The Freedom High Falcons have been able to boast Bay Valley Athletic League pennants in wrestling, baseball and softball since the school opened in 1996.

Last week, the school was able to add a BVAL title in girls tennis to its collection. With a 6-3 win over visiting Antioch, the Falcons clinched the outright league championship for the first time in Freedom history.

“It feels amazing,” Falcon head coach Steve Amaro said. “I’m so proud of the girls and how they played. … It’s incredible. It was nerve-wracking. Liberty is an incredible team and I knew that we were going to have to play our best if we were going to keep away the rest of the league.

Freedom won four of the six singles matches and two of the three doubles matches to seal the victory. Amaro said he knew his team was really going to have to step up that day to finish ahead of Liberty, which placed second in the BVAL. The coach said that this year, he could really feel the team come together.

The Falcons finished the regular season 13-7 overall and 9-1 in league play, the one loss coming at the hands of the Lions in the Bell Game.

“All four years I’ve been with these girls I’ve been wanting it so much, and I see how hard they work,” senior Alex Gerundio said. “Now that it’s here, it’s incredible.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers wrapped up their 2010 campaign with a 5-8 overall record (5-5 BVAL). Antioch head coach Larry Johnson said he was hoping his team would be able to play spoiler, but is still happy with the way they performed.

“Freedom played really well today and I think my girls did their best,” Johnson said. “But I think Freedom was just fired up and they outplayed us.”